A House of Representatives member who’s representing Ede North/Ede South/Egbedore/Ejigbo Constituency in Osun State, Bamidele Salam, on Wednesday staged a one-man protest in Abuja, the country’s capital.
He held the protest to demand the safe rescue of the kidnapped Abuja-Kaduna train passengers who are currently in the captivity of the terrorists.
The lawmaker put on black trousers and a shirt and trekked barefooted from the Unity Fountain to the National Assembly Complex.
He was holding in his hands a placard which has an inscription; “Muhammadu Buhari, Do More To Secure Freedom For The Kaduna Train Victims”.
The Osun representative while speaking to newsmen, after the protest, charged President Muhammadu Buhari to play his constitutional responsibilities of safeguarding lives and property of the citizens.
He said the President is expected to act fast and secure the release of the remaining abducted victims of Abuja-Kaduna train attack.
He said the “inactions” of the president to secure the release of the victims necessitated the protest.
“There is a viral video of the victims, pleading for urgent intervention in the face of threats by their abductors to kill them within a specified time given if certain conditions as demanded were not met. This video has been trending on social media, prompting a renewed call for urgent action.
“What the country needs to do is to secure the release of the Kaduna train victims. Too many precious Nigerian lives have been lost to kidnappers and other malevolent individuals to permit these hapless victims of the train hijack to become the latest statistics of a nefarious enterprise (which) has sullied the national image”, the lawmaker said.
The lawmakers called on members of the National Assembly and the general populace to urge President Buhari to use his power as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to enable the freedom of the victims.
He considered as “unnecessary and diversionary,” a bill recently passed by the Senate, which partly stated the prohibition of payment of ransom by victims’ families, “especially where it appears that the government is helpless, and demonstrating incapability to handle the challenges.”